In addition to the preparatory exercises, some core exercises are required.
Hold your child in an armpit grip (same as with the core exercise). Always maintain eye contact and make a few funny grimaces and sounds. Also try a nose swab from time to time. You yourself know best what makes your child happy. The playful interaction should make the child feel comfortable in the water and even have fun in the new location.
You can either do this exercise at home in the bathtub or in a very shallow pool. Stairs often lead into swimming pools and the top step is usually only a few centimeters underwater. This location is very suitable, for example, as long as the stairs are wide enough for other people to pass by. The exercise itself is relatively simple. Sit down with your toddler and babble a little. Drum lightly on the water, splash it up a bit so that sometimes a few droplets splash into the child's face. Through this playful exercise, the child can slowly get used to the water.
This exercise should be performed before the actual core exercise. To do this, hold your child under your armpit again and try to create a positive feeling with grimaces, bubbles, funny noises, etc. Another person should then pour a cup of water over the child's head. If you are alone in the bathroom, you can simply place the child on the edge of the pool. Approach the child from the front with the mug and start with a small amount of water. Then pay attention to the child's reaction. If it reacts positively, you should praise it; if it reacts negatively, these feelings should not be reinforced. Repeat this exercise over several bath visits with more and more water. If the child still reacts positively even when the cup is full, you can try the core exercise. What can often help is if you pour water over your head first and then shake yourself and be happy. The toddler will observe their behavior and is more likely to react positively as well.
You can do this exercise in water or on land. Dip your hand into the water and drip slowly onto the toddler's head. Pay attention to the child's reaction and try to create positive feelings through encouragement and praise. If the child reacts negatively, you can try the exercise again later. However, do not reinforce negative feelings by expressing compassion. You can also try to distract the toddler with a toy, etc., and trickle gently while doing so. If the child reacts positively to this exercise, you can continue with the watering can readiness test.
As already said, you should definitely do the “watering can readiness test” first and only try the core exercise when the child reacts positively to the water on the face. This can also take a bit of patience and can sometimes be frustrating. However, we recommend that you take this time. Children who are forced to dive often have strong negative feelings about the water. From the age of three or four, the children should then go into hiding on their own. Such negative feelings can slow down this process a lot.
